Machines which use a rotatable agitator to mix food products in a cup are well known. Such machines are often found in fast food establishments and can be used by an employee or could be used on a self-serve basis by the customer. The machines include a downwardly depending rotatable agitator, and the user typically fills his cup with food products such as ice cream, candy condiments, and the like, and positions the agitator in the cup by lifting the cup around the agitator. Then the machine is turned on and the agitator rotates to blend the contents of the cup. However, the step of turning on the machine usually requires the manual displacement of a switch with one hand while the other hand holds the cup in the proper position, which is not always convenient to the user since he may not have a free hand to operate the switch.
Attempts to automate the switching process have, for the most part, been unsuccessful in that they are noisy, they can cause damage to the switch mechanism itself, and they do not allow facile replacement of the switch when necessary.